Snoring has a ‘hidden threat’ within itself, and although it is a fairly prevalent disorder, it can often lead to serious medical problems and should not be ignored. Snoring is the first indication of the sleep apnoea disorder that is hidden. If left undiagnosed, extreme cases of sleep apnoea can cause a patient to slip into a medical complication such as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, chronic lung disease, stroke, diabetes or even an increase in road traffic and work accidents.
ENT Consultant, Dr Abdul Ghani Siddique, who is based at Dubai London Clinic, Nakheel Mall on the Palm Jumeirah, explains that Yale University studied the link between snoring and diabetes. According to their research, those who snore regularly have greater changes in their body metabolism, which can then lead to diabetes. The study showed that sleep apnoea is significantly associated with the risk of Type 2 diabetes independent of other risk factors such as age, race, sex or weight.
How are sleep apnoea and diabetes connected?
“Severity of snoring they say is directly associated with a raised risk of diabetes,” he said. “Looking at the study, it is important that people who snore should get themselves assessed by an ENT specialist for the severity of their snoring, possibility of sleep apnoea and management of these two conditions to try and prevent the development of diabetes.”
He added that from this study, one could infer that snoring and sleep apnoea can directly lead to the development of diabetes type 2. “Both these conditions - sleep apnoea, snoring and diabetes - can lead to wide varieties of medical problems such as high blood pressure, serious cardiac disease, and strokes apart from a long list of other health complications,” Siddique added.
